The Decoded podcast episode, hosted by Edward Henriquez, explores real-world hacking tactics drawn from Peter Kim's Hacker Playbook series, moving beyond fictional portrayals. It details the stages of an attack, starting with reconnaissance using OSINT and tools like Shodan and Nmap to gather information. The episode then examines exploitation techniques that target vulnerabilities with tools such as Burp Suite and Mimikatz. Further discussion covers pivoting and escalation within a network using methods like pass-the-hash and PowerShell Empire. Finally, the podcast addresses how attackers cover their tracks and provides key defensive strategies like penetration testing and employee training to mitigate these threats.